Worship

Episcopal worship is centered in Scripture and Prayer.

The framework and setting in which we focus on Scripture and Prayer are the liturgical arts that touch our physical senses: sight (such as architecture and visual symbols), taste (such as bread and wine), touch (such as bread and cup), smell (such as incense) and hearing (such as spoken word, bells, and music).

The goal of our worship is to encounter God — aspiring to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Our patterns for worship come from the Book of Common Prayer — which finds its ancient roots both in the Jewish synagogue as well as the Celtic, Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christian traditions. Our Sunday worship includes preaching and singing, chant and silence, organ and choir, vestments and candles, as well as a variety of other ancient and contemporary spiritual practices. At least once a week we will celebrate Holy Communion. You do not need to be a member of our church (or even Episcopal) to share in the Communion with us.

You may be surprised to discover many non-Episcopalians at Episcopal worship services. Some of us grew up in a Christian church; many of us did not. You’ll find all kinds of people at worship: seekers, agnostics, doubters, as well as the devout. You’ll find some of us who know the Scriptures, the music, how to find our way around the prayer book, but many others are just learning. Either way, you’ll fit right in. Our rector will tell you the the first few times he attended Episcopal worship he had no idea what page we were on, what we were doing, or why. But he kept coming back because he could sense “there was something really special here … the presence of God.” Eventually our ways of worship not only became familiar to him, but he became a worship leader.

Always remember, no matter who you are, or where you’re from, you matter to God. And you matter to us. “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You.”